The dynamism of contemporary Chinese society reflects itself in higher education and the academic profession. The remarkable changes in the past 30 years include the shifting from a planned system to a market system on one hand, and the shifting from a closed system to an open system on the other hand. Five obvious transformations in higher education resulted from this social dynamism. They are identified as massification, decentralization, marketization, differentiation, and internationalization respectively. Such a dynamic context has complicated the scenario for the Chinese academic profession.